Without limiting the general scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with computer graphics, as one example only.
In computer systems, a host computer can be programmed to perform general purpose tasks including graphics routines. Greater speed and additional features are often desirable, and so a graphics coprocessor is added to supplement the capabilities of the host computer.
The graphics coprocessor is also called a graphics system processor (GSP), examples of which are the Texas Instruments TMS34010 and TMS34020 GSPs. The addition of a graphics coprocessor makes the computer system a multiprocessor system which can benefit from advances in the art of multiprocessor technology. Also, different computer bus architectures are in use today such as the ISA and MCA architectures, and this situation complicates system and circuit definition. Furthermore, several different kinds of memory such as ROM, DRAM (dynamic random access memory) and VRAM (video RAM) are useful with computers that have graphics capability, and are desirably accommodated. A host computer may have one memory address space, which is an allocation of different memory addresses to different functions according to an address map, and the GSP may have another memory address space.
Any improvements in multiprocessor technology, memory and addressing management and other aspects relating to host computers and graphics system processors are desirable so that graphics and other computer and electronic systems can be made faster and more convenient in commercial application.